I am 6 ft / 230lbs. I test drove the Revo 13 and Outback recently, and I preferred the Revo (faster, more leg room). I'm considering the Revo for purchase, but I'm a bit concerned about the lower weight rating. Should I be, or will the Revo 13 work for e and my gear?

You are about the same build as me (6'2" 220lbs). I had an Outback and it floated much higher than my Adventure but wasn't anything like as enjoyable & fast a ride. Of course if you take too much gear you will weigh any boat down so it is gonna depend on how many kitchen sinks you take with you.

To give you some ideas for a comparison on my Adventure I take 2 rods, sail & mast, cart (stowed), fishfinder, daggerboard, landing net, fishbin, 7ah lead acid battery, 2 otterboxes of spares & safety gear (spare cables & bits, small spanner, multi-tool, handheld vhf, etc), waterbottle and a relatively small amount of tackle and there's still enough buoyancy to take extra clothing, my 9 year-old daughter (for her I ditch the fishbin) and a bunch of other gear such as sleeping bags, food, stove etc for overnights in huts with me if I can squeeze them into the hull and get the weight distribution right. As long as it doesn't adversely affect the stability (and I have yet to reach the limit) the extra weight doesn't really make much difference because once you get your boat moving the extra weight gives it increased inertia though it does become apparent if you end up with nose up/down trim and in surf where the boat may tend to wallow noticeably.

With the above information check the carrying capacity of the boats w.r.t the Adventure & go from there. Personally (and without checking the capacities of the boats myeslf) I think you will find that the Revo 13 has ample capacity based upon your size/weight and the above gear list and it will probably prove much faster and more enjoyable than the Outback.

You would have to add a lot of weight to have any capacity issues with the Revo 13. This pic illustrates that the listed capacity is somewhat conservative, although this is not an approved loading method nor am I recommending that you exceed the listed capacity.

You would have to add a lot of weight to have any capacity issues with the Revo 13. This pic illustrates that the listed capacity is somewhat conservative, although this is not an approved loading method nor am I recommending that you exceed the listed capacity.

Kbsulli :I think the rated capacities on all of Hobies kayaks is conservative. We used to have a Revo 13, and I was around 230 lbs and never had any problems with the boat. We don't fish but do a lot of excursions (ie rivers, island hopping, etc) with sometimes quite a bit of gear. We also had the sailing kit and Turbo mirage drives on all of our Hobies which greatly extended our range. My opinion is the Revo 13 is a really nice boat (one of Hobies best designs). As an example of it's speed my wife and I used to go out with her on the revo and me on our (old design) Oasis, she would literally pedal in circles around me taunting me to try to keep up. The Revo is one slick craft and even banks on turns (pretty cool). Believe it or not boat length is a major factor in a boats speed, for example an adventure (16 ft) is faster than a revo (13 ft). The Tandem Island (18.5 ft) is the fastest kayak Hobie makes (in Kayak mode) even when pedaled solo (mostly because of the length). I think that's why the super high end sea canoes/kayaks are 21 to 25 ft long, and are way faster than anything Hobie makes, (and triple the price).This is of course all just my opinion, but in the recreational kayak world, Hobie kayaks have the most bang for the buck, and the longest range over any other kayak on the market, plus they are really well made and supported. With the ability to paddle ( paddles no differently from any other recreational brand), you use one muscle group, when tired we switch to the peddles (a different muscle group (and much stronger)), then the ultimate at least for us is the ability to also sail whenever the wind is favorable. We always take the sails along and stow them on the side of the boat if not using them. This combination allows us to triple our distance over anything we previously used (recreational paddle yaks).Hope this helps youBob PS I don't know much about the outback (never owned one), so I cannot comment on the outback at all.

The only exception on the conservative rating in my opinion it the Adventure/AI. Loaded at 350#, the water level in the Mirage drive well is less than an inch from the center hatch lip. Still a great boat!

KayakingBob :I did not know that about the AI, I know on my TI I've had 5-6 people out sailing several times. I took a family out for their first ride on a sailboat out in Florida bay near Islamorada (a mom, dad, two tweens (10 and 12), and myself, (around 800 lbs) and the boat actually sailed nicely, I even had the spinnaker up and we got up to around 8-10 mph. Of course the water was shallow, and we stayed close to shore. I always carry 6 PFD's on board because we often go out just off shore snorkeling (usually off Higgs beach or tank Island in KW). At that weight the mirage wells were full of water and the water level was about 1-1.5 inches below the center hatch. I figured when we came in the hull would be full of water, but it wasn't bad (maybe a little more than a quart if I remember correctly), but we were in and out all day going out snorkeling, and sailing (people taking turns going out), getting equipment in and out of all the hatches etc. We were there for a week and moored just off shore for the duration (when we weren't sailing). Here is a pic of my TI moored for the night.

Great report! Yes the TI is very, very conservative on it's weight rating. Maybe someone from Hobie will tell us why??

Another concern, is the label saying 600# or 2 people as the local Coast Guard Auxiliary takes that as meaning the lesser of 2 people or 600 # on at any one time. I don't remember hearing of anyone having an issue with this, but it'd be nice to know, with so many of us with tramps and haka.

You would have to add a lot of weight to have any capacity issues with the Revo 13. This pic illustrates that the listed capacity is somewhat conservative, although this is not an approved loading method nor am I recommending that you exceed the listed capacity.